Brant Beach Homeowners Association Lights the Way for Beachgoers

May 28, 2014

Photo by: Ryan Morrill

As part of a pilot program scheduled to run through the summer, the Brant Beach Homeowners Association recently collaborated with the Long Beach Township Public Works Department to install solar light posts on the beaches from 31st through 56th streets in Brant Beach. BBHA President Bill Kunz developed the initiative – which he calls ASSIST (A Solar Sign Identifying STreets) – to help beachgoers assess their exact location. The program, he remarked, “is a benefit to the homeowners and the tourists, and an enhancement to the beach.”

Township Mayor Joseph Mancini explained the project to those in the audience at a board of commissioners meeting earlier this month, stating, “The group has come up with posts that are solar-lit, that are being put on the beach and the street ends in Brant Beach that will tell you what street you're on, and an emergency response number.

“The problem we have in the summer, or any time of year, is somebody will have an event on the beach, they don't know where they are, because they're walking the beach, and at least now … you'll know if you’re on 39th Street,” for example, the mayor added.

The solar lights on the posts face east; each post also includes the street number and the emergency number 911, as well as a plaque indicating that the posts were funded by the BBHA.

A proclamation created by the township commends the homeowners group for identifying a specific need that exists on the beaches, and “for its generosity and ceaseless efforts to improve the lives in our community.”

The posts were installed in just a stretch of Brant Beach in coordination with beach replenishment. “So, after beach replenishment happens (elsewhere) this fall, we would then complete Brant Beach, and through the pilot program, we would know it would work,” Kunz explained.

“The bottom line is that we think it’s going to provide, to both residents and tourists, a ready reference as to the street they’re on. As long as the solar lights stay intact, it should be a very positive thing,” he added.

Kunz thanked township Commissioner Ralph Bayard, Superintendent of Public Works Andy Baran and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Bob Parker, who were “instrumental” in seeing this project come to fruition.

“I felt this would be an enhancement, and it’s practical,” Kunz summarized. “I think it’s a welcome addition to the beaches. It’s going to serve its purpose well. ... I’m very, very happy with them.”—J.K.-H.